Pro-Palestine protesters spark outrage after carrying mock Auschwitz gate at rally

A pro-Palestine protest in Sweden has caused outrage after parading a mock Auschwitz gate during a rally.

The demonstration took place in Stockholm and had replaced the infamous ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ wording on the gate with GAZA.

The gate was placed as part of a march dedicated to the release of Dr Hussam Abu Safya, the director of a hospital in northern Gaza.

He was taken by Israeli forces and has been held without being charged for 18 months.

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The Israeli Defence Forces claim he was detained in December 2024 for suspected involvement in terrorist activities and for being a part of Hamas.

Chants of ‘Free Palestine’ can be heard in the background of videos.

The demonstration drew criticism from Jewish organisations, who were outraged by the use of Holocaust imagery.

Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, said: “I am following with deep concern the recent antisemitic incidents in Sweden.

“Whether it is a Jewish doctor subjected to verbal abuse at work, reports of healthcare workers participating in demonstrations where antisemitic statements were heard, or yet another weekly demonstration distorting the Holocaust in ways that leave me shocked, the pattern is deeply troubling.

“How many more times can we condemn the same hatred?

“When will those responsible understand that failing to act against incitement only emboldens those who spread it?”

The Official Council of Jewish Communities in Sweden was also quick to criticise the march.

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Its chairman, Aaron Verständig, said: “Trivialising the Holocaust in the way it was done during the demonstration in Stockholm is profoundly offensive and deeply repugnant.”

Daniel Schatz, a Swedish Jewish researcher, was left baffled as the display took place directly in front of police officers.

He stated: “The most remarkable thing is not the actions of the protesters. It is the passivity of those around them.

“The police are visibly on the scene. Authorities produce strategies, action plans and information campaigns.

“But when anti-Semitism occurs right before our eyes, very few seem to react,” he wrote in a local daily newspaper.

He also wrote on X: “Auschwitz was not just another symbol. It was a death camp where around a million people were murdered in an industrial and systematic manner.

“For those of us with family members who survived that hell, this is not a political metaphor but an open wound in history.”

It is estimated that over 1.1 million Jews were killed by the Nazis in Auschwitz.

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